PETA steps forward to claim ‘selfie-freak’ monkey’s right over photo

As always, PETA has again stepped forward to protect animal rights and this time on the behalf of Naruto, a monkey who took selfie with a photographer's unattended camera in 2011 at Sulawesi, Indonesia and the picture got viral.

As always, PETA has again stepped forward to protect animal rights and this time on the behalf of Naruto, a monkey who took selfie with a photographer’s unattended camera in 2011 at Sulawesi, Indonesia and the picture went viral.

Notably, the British nature photographer David Slater, who owned the camera began suing people, who shared the snap, claiming his copyright over the image.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has now come up on behalf of six-year-old monkey and is seeking orders from the federal court of San Francisco to allow it to administer all proceeds from the photos for the benefit of the monkey and other crested macaques living in a reserve on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, News.com.au reported.

On the other hand, Slater has claimed that he owned the rights to the picture as he intentionally set up the camera so the monkeys could press the button.

Although, Wikipedia, which posted the selfies of the monkey, refused to take it down, claiming that no-one owns the rights of the photo as it was taken by an animal and not a human, in action of this the US Copyright Office updated its policies in 2014 making registered copyright for works produced only by human beings.

PETA hopes to make history and set a legal precedent with the lawsuit.